The two-nation theory has its roots in the self-intuition of Muslims and the hate of Hindu dharma. It was a Muslim separatist view that evolved during the freedom struggle to partition Bharat on religious grounds. The primary notion of this philosophy was that Muslims and Hindus are two distinct peoples, each with their customs, traditions, art, architecture, literature, interests, and way of life; hence, coexistence is impossible, and the solution is a separate state for Muslims and Hindus. To fulfil this demand, the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act of 1947, which partitioned India’s northwestern portion and established a Muslim state known as Pakistan. Muslims and Hindus fled to both nations, while the remainder of the two communities stayed in India and Pakistan. However, the properties of Hindus who fled from Pakistan to India were seized by Muslims and the Pakistani authorities. The Nehru administration transferred the assets of Muslims who had moved from India to Pakistan to the Waqf Board, and the Muslims retained ownership. For this reason, the Indian Parliament established the Waqf Act for the first time in 1954.
Looking at current circumstances, the Nehru administration implicitly supported the concept of Waqf as a suitable setting for instilling similar thought in the country, which culminated in the 1947 Act enacted by the British Parliament for the partition of India.
The Authorised Islamic Land Invasion
Congress’ appeasement of Islam did not end there. This Act of 1954 was eventually abolished, and in 1995, Parliament established a new Waqf Act, giving Waqf Boards additional power. Then, in 2013, the second Congress-led UPA administration empowered the Waqf Boards to expropriate land from anybody in the country and altered the 1995 Act to render such action unappealable in court. On this premise, the Congress administration transferred 123 valuable properties in Delhi to the Delhi Waqf Board in March, right before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Since then, the Waqf Board has confiscated thousands of acres of land from Hindus and other non-Muslims under this Act. The Tamil Nadu Waqf Board has declared six villages in Tamil Nadu as Waqf properties, including a 1500-year-old Hindu temple.
Section 3 of the Waqf Act 1995 states that a property becomes Waqf property if the Waqf Board ‘thinks’ it belongs to Islam. In other words, if Muslims think that land in India belongs to them, they have the authority and right to take it from anyone. So, if they acknowledge that the land belongs to the Waqf Board, a landowner who has lost his property cannot sue in court. The legislation mandates him to go to the Waqf Tribunal instead. In sum, the law has the potential of cutting off Indian land based on Muslim sentiments. It should be noted that these Muslim sentiments began during the freedom struggle, which led to India’s partition and the creation of Pakistan. The same circumstances that support such thinking currently exist throughout the country. Even if someone complains, it is not simple for a non-Muslim. Under Section 85 of the Waqf Act, the landowner must be able to convince the tribunal that a property belongs to the complaint; otherwise, the tribunal may order the property’s expulsion. This order is final. The Waqf Act specifies that no court, even the Supreme Court of India, may overturn the Waqf Tribunal’s ruling. This signifies that the Waqf Board Tribunal has more power than the Supreme Court. According to Section 40 of the Waqf Act, when the Waqf Board makes a claim on a person’s land, it is the obligation of the real landowner, not the Waqf Board, to prove the ownership of the land. This implies that once the Waqf Board claims a piece of property, the Board is essentially the owner of the land from that point on.
Islamic Law Became the Law of the Secular Land
Waqf law is an Islamic law that the Supreme Court of India cannot now handle. Waqf is a term used in Islam to describe land that is solely dedicated to religious or charitable purposes. The notion is that once a property is proclaimed waqf, the individual who establishes the waqf transfers ownership to Allah. This cannot be cancelled later. These properties are managed by the Waqif or a Mutawwali nominated by a governing body. The notion of Waqf initially appeared in India under the Delhi Sultanate. Early examples include Sultan Muhammad Ghori, who dedicated the villages he captured to Multan’s Juma Masjid. The Mussalman Waqf Act of 1923 represented the first contemporary attempt to govern property in India. The 1954 Act was a continuation of this legislation. However, the 2013 modification made a significant adjustment to the definition of Waqf property. It altered the wording “permanent submission of a believer in Islam” to “permanent submission of any person”. Following this modification, it was no longer prohibited for Muslims or people of any faith to contribute property to Waqf Boards. This meant the Board may seize anyone’s property.
Some examples of Small Pakistan in Making
According to the Waqf Management System of India, the Waqf Board is now India’s third largest landowner, behind the Railways and the Ministry of Defence. Waqf Boards own 8.7 lakh properties over 9.4 lakh acres in India. Their total worth is Rs 1.2 lakh crore. The country has 32 Waqf Boards, two of which are Shia, located in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In 2009, the Waqf Boards’ assets reached four lakh acres of land. It has more than doubled its powers under the 2013 amendment. Many of the assets that were transferred under the Waqf Board and ended up in court surprised everyone. For example, a claim to two islands in Gujarat’s Bet Dwarka has baffled even the judiciary. Other examples include the Eidgah ground in Bengaluru, which has been claimed as Waqf property since 1850, and the Surat Municipal Corporation building, which the Board is claiming since it served as a ‘Sarai’ during the Mughal period. The Tollygunge Club in Kolkata, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, and the ITC Windsor Hotel in Bengaluru have all been designated waqf properties. The Tamil Nadu Waqf Board’s declaration in September 2022 that it possessed the Hindu-majority village of Tiruchendurai in Tamil Nadu was very contentious.
Despite claims that India is a secular country, there is evidence of policies that support only one religion. Another example is the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, enacted by Parliament in 1991. This Act retained all places of worship as they existed at the time of the country’s independence. That is, the objective was to leave everything acquired by the Islamic invasion intact. The Waqf Act of 1995 then granted the Waqf Board the ability to claim any property across the country. Thus, through two laws, Congress granted Muslims the authority to maintain previous properties obtained by invasion while seizing new ones.
Moreover, Muslim nations without a Waqf Board or statute include Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. This is because Islam owns all the land there. However, in India, such legislation has been adopted with the intention of eventually converting the country to Islam. In sum, Congress’s goal is to achieve an extended Pakistan.
Control of the Invasion
Many agendas have emerged as a result of the Waqf board gaining uncontrolled authority that threatens the integrity of our country. Wherever an Islamic cemetery is created in any region, the Waqf Board naturally owns the surrounding land. Further, even unlawful shrines and mosques are rapidly becoming deemed property of the Waqf Board. This Islamic invasion must be controlled.
For this, the Modi administration has now proposed a bill in Parliament to alter the Waqf Act of 1995, with the goal of restricting the Waqf Boards’ arbitrary powers and encroachments. With the 2013 amendment, the Congress administration enlarged the Waqf authorities’ powers even more. The new initiative intends to increase transparency and accountability in the control and monitoring of over 8.7 lakh assets controlled by state Waqf boards across India, as well as to address corruption issues. It also seeks to boost the representation of sects and women in Islam. Representing individuals from various groups will increase openness in the way the authorities operate. However, the Congress, communists, and jihadists all oppose such a well-intended effort.
